MARTIN COUNTY — The busing Band-Aid is getting ripped off ... eventually.

More than 1,000 students on the brink of losing their free rides to school, for the second time, will be bused on the school district's dime until they change schools.

Then, they're on their own.

For parent Jennifer DeMeo, that means her son, who attends Hidden Oaks Middle School, and daughter at Palm City Elementary still have busing for a while. But in two years, when her daughter moves on to Hidden Oaks, she likely will have to walk 2 miles to school.

School Board members Tuesday voted 4-1 to continue busing 1,108 students who live closer than 2 miles to their schools. The decision, which board member Marsha Powers voted against, came about one year after the district first announced those students would lose busing.

In the future, students who live closer than 2 miles from school will not receive free transportation unless their walk is "hazardous" as defined bystate law.

The board room was full of parents, many who also had been there to speak on the same topic when their buses were on the chopping block last year. Then, their safety concerns helped convince the board to rethink busing cuts and restore transportation just days before school began in August.

Busing the 1,108 students is expected to cost the district $2.6 million, School Board members said Tuesday.

"We have not done enough preparation to mitigate the impact for families," Powers said. "We can minimize this."

Florida law generally requires busing only for students outside a 2-mile limit from their schools or those who face "hazardous walking conditions" spelled out in a strict state statute. Those hazards include traffic volume higher than 360 vehicles per hour, roads with speed limits faster than 50 mph and roads with six lanes or more.

The state contributes toward transportation funding, but paying for "courtesy busing" — rides for children within that 2-mile walk but without a hazardous exemption — falls squarely on school districts.

Martin County for years has bused students closer than 2 miles from school, sometimes even after hazardous conditions were eliminated.

But that transportation stopped on Tuesday except for current courtesy riders.

The district spent the last year attempting to create a fair and equitable busing plan, reaching beyond the state's hazardous requirements. Board members looked at busing all students who cross railroad tracks, roundabouts or four-lane roads.

Those solutions, however, did not come cheap.

The administration on March 7 told the board it would cost about $6.1 million to bus all of those students. Board members were taken aback.

“For us to provide the transportation wherewithal for every student in Martin County that may or may not cross a four-lane road or railroad track or bridge or overpass that may fall down, or whatever, it’s economically not feasible for us,” board member Michael DiTerlizzi said at a March 19 meeting.

Continuing to bus students who already get free rides, while cutting off future generations, was seen by board members as a welcome middle ground. This way, the district can follow state law.

Still, that may be confusing to some, Superintendent Laurie Gaylord said.

Some students starting kindergarten next year, she noted, may not get busing even though their older siblings would. Likewise, new neighbors wouldl assume they get free transportation for their kids but would not.

At least people moving into Martin County in the future will know the situation, said board member Tina McSoley, who was behind the idea.

The School Board wants to add crossing guards and expand before-school services to make busing, or the lack of busing, easier for parents.

“This is a viable solution while we look at some other ways to add additional assistance," McSoley said.